Place: Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler’s Eagles Nest
Location: Obersalzburg
Cost: ? 3€ ?
The Kehlsteinhaus, or Eagles Nest, is located in Obersalzburg, in the Alps. It was so beautiful there! We road bus up to the top and the road was so steep and had many switchbacks across the mountain. Seriously we just kept going up and up. We entered the long tunnel that takes you to an elevator inside the mountain. I went up that golden elevator! The view from the top was breathtaking. I could see for miles and miles, thank goodness it was a clear beautiful day. Huge majestic Alps surrounded me on all sides. Three sides Austria and one side Germany. I could see the castle in Salzburg! I could not take enough pictures, but I just know they will not do that amazing view justice. It was a once in a lifetime sight, something I have only read about. But now I have seen it with my own eyes. It is hard to even believe it now! I can’t believe I was at Hitler’s tea house! He went there with his most honored guests. Wow. The whole time up there I just couldn’t help but think Bormann knew what he was doing when he built this for Hitler. It is up so high, it is intimidating for all those traveling up the mountain and from the top it give you the view of everything, the view that I could help but imagine Hitler saying “I rule all the land you can see, and beyond!” And it really was a powerful, humbling sight.
Place: Church at the Haag am Hausruck Branch and Huber farm
Location: Haag
Cost: free
Going to church in Haag was a wonderful experience. We went just a mile down the road from our hotel to the church. It was a beautiful building, bigger than I expected. They had Relief society first, so we went to a small room and had to pull out a bunch more chairs. I thnk there was about 6 locals and 19 of us girls! The lesson was good though, talking about the sacrament and how it has come to be/ mean what it does today. The same in English as in Deutsch. The couple sister missionary asked if half of us would stay and go to the teenagers Sunday school class, so they could “see all us older girls.” There were 3 girls and 1 boy in their class. They were all so funny and very kind to us. In sacrament meeting we definitely doubled the group. Two men blessed the sacrament and that one boy from class and another man passed. I loved singing the hymns in German and really want to learn to pray in German.
We also traveled out to Johann Huber’s farm. Here I saw where the church first started to meet in Austria, a little room up in the top of the barn. The floor had a trap door so the people could escape quickly if they saw a mob or the police out the window. The community thought Johann was crazy for joining the church and he was persecuted badly. The woman at the farm showed us all these documents, originals, about crazy things the people there wanted to charge him with. I also got to see the bible that Johann had. It is from 1705! That was amazing! America wasn’t even born yet. The whole farm had a feeling of peace and history, like other church history sights in America. I liked that because I feel it really is just as important as those. History is amazing and the church is too. God definitely had a hand in bringing to pass this gospel in Austria.
Place: Catacombs
Location: In Stephensdom
Cost: 4,50 €
Going to see the catacombs was another exciting adventure here in Vienna! Me and a few others had gone out looking for the clock museum, but found this to do instead, and I am glad we did! We entered the cathedral and only had to wait a few minutes before our tour of the underground cemetery began. We went down under the church to the ‘older’ part of the catacombs. They are older but newly remodeled so look nice because they are still used for Bishops and Cardinals burials. The Hofburgs from the 14th century are buried down there! And the insides of all the Habsburgs except their hearts. This was all ‘nice,’ clean coffins and stone. But the next part got scarier. It looked way old and creepy The guide said there are 30 rooms with 400+ bodies in each one! We looked in one window and saw skeletons on stretchers. Another room was full- piles and piles of 600+ people, a mass grave of those who died in the Black Plague. There was a tomb form the 9th century and another room had bones that were stacked so neat, like a wall. Another room was totally cleared away, the guide saying it was clear because they moved all the bones when they needed to use the room as a bomb shelter during WWII. It was all very interesting and kinda shocking, seeing htat many bones, and skulls! At the end of the tour we jokingly asked if we could sleep down there sometime in the dark. The guide laughed and said no, but that we could go back and he would turn off the lights. Sick! So we all went down again and he turned out the lights and freaked us all out. Nothing like asking a question and getting a good reward! Best 4.50 I’ve spent yet!
FREAKY! As if you did that! No thank you! :)
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